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Execution Carried Out

Death Row Inmate Jeffrey Matthews
DOC

By AP

McAlester, OK – Oklahoma inmate executed for 1994 slaying

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) An Oklahoma death row inmate has been executed for the 1994 slaying of his 77-year-old great uncle.

Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie says Jeffrey David Matthews was pronounced dead at 6:09 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a lethal injection of drugs.

The 38-year-old Matthews was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the Jan. 27, 1994, slaying of Otis Earl Short during a robbery.

Former Gov. Brad Henry twice granted stays last year to give defense attorneys time to investigate Matthews' claims of innocence. A third stay was granted after defense attorneys objected to plans to substitute a drug in his lethal injection.

Matthews is the second Oklahoma inmate executed this year. Billy Alverson was executed Thursday for the 1995 killing of a convenience store worker.

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